Question: I was watching TXA21's newscast and noticed CBS11's Jeff Jamison doing weekend weather. Amanda Sanchez, who was originally hired to do that no longer has a bio on the station's Web site. What caused her departure after such a short period of time?Robert

Answer: A CBS11/TXA21 spokeswoman says that Sanchez had to return to Las Vegas for family medical reasons. She quickly rejoined the city's ABC station, KTNV-TV, as a weathercaster.

Question: I work as an extra on Prison Break and it's been so much fun this year. Do you know if they are going to film here in Dallas for next season?Melissa Cuellar

Answer: It depends on whom you ask. Fox entertainment president Peter Liguori told unclebarky.com in January that the show was "very unlikely" to film much in North Texas next season if the network picks up the series. But Dallas-based producer Garry Brown said he's already scouting North Texas locations for next season. It's his understanding, at this point anyway, that most of Prison Break would be filmed in this area.

Production on the current second season is scheduled to end in mid-March, with the second season finale set for April 2nd.

Question: Just saw your bulletin that Studio 60 was likely canceled -- not surprising and not nearly as disappointing as it would've been four months ago. How is its "cousin," 30 Rock, doing? I absolutely love its whip-smart humor and find it consistently the second-funniest show I watch (after The Office, always snortingly funny). Think 30 Rock will make it back for Season 2? I saw somewhere that it was being bumped for a new show.Beau Black

Answer:30 Rock's chances aren't great, but there's still a chance. It's the lowest-rated of NBC's stellar Thursday night foursome, but the Peacock is striving to give it every chance. The acting awards for co-star Alec Baldwin help a bit.

Rock will be benched for a while, though, in favor of Andy Richter's Andy Parker, P.I., which will take its slot on March 15. That comedy is co-produced by Conan O'Brien's Conaco company, with Richter starring as an accountant turned bumbling private eye.

Question: What's up with Survivor: Fiji being all 20- and 30-somethings with only two 50+ guys in the bunch? Not one single woman older than 40, looks to me. If I wanted to watch young people all the time I'd turn to MTV!!!Linda Johnson

Answer: Actually, Sylvia Kwan is 52 and Cassandra Franklin is 42. And both are still on the island in the show's early stages. Since its inception, Survivor generally has loaded up on contestants in their 20s and 30s. But grizzled old Rudy Boesch became one of the show's biggest stars, so there's always hope.

Question: What happened to Christina McLarty? Did she get fired or did they simply not renew her contract? I know that she is in LA now.John Mark Rong

Answer: In January, McLarty decided to move on up -- as an entertainment/feature reporter for CBS-owned KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. CBS11, where she had worked since 2004, also is a network owned-and-operated station.

There's quite a backlog of "Ask Uncle Barky" questions, so please accept my apologies. The day-to-day watching and writing about the 10 p.m. February "sweeps" newscasts takes up lots of time. But now at last, here are some answers.

Question: The Dallas TV stations appear to supply a great deal of talent to the big show: Rene San Miguel, Rene Syler, Ashleigh Banfield, Betty Nguyen, Kim Miller. And those are just the ones I can remember quickly. Is Dallas well-known as a farm club for the big leagues?Will Samples

Answer: Network TV news isn't the end-all, be-all it once was, but D-FW indeed has trained a lot of reporters for the national stage. Most have come from Belo8, most prominently Scott Pelley of CBS News. He's a correspondent on 60 Minutes and also has been the network's chief White House correspondent.

One of the very first to move upward was Bob Brown, who's still at ABC News and used to work for Belo8 in the 1970s. Others include Gary Reaves (back at Belo8 after a stint at CBS), former ABC religion reporter Peggy Wehmeyer (Belo8), CBS Sunday Evening News and Early Show anchor Russ Mitchell (Belo8), public television's Charlie Rose (NBC5) and CBS News' Peter Van Sant (Belo8).

Question: I was curious about the ratings for 24 this season. Are they up, down or the same from the previous two seasons? It is by far the best show on TV and I would like to see it continue to do well.Ed Coffey

Answer: Through the first seven episodes, this season's 24 is performing almost exactly as it did the previous season, averaging 15 million viewers compared to 14.9 million at this time last year. And last season was up from the previous season. 24 isn't doing quite as well among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds this time, but is in no danger at all of being canceled.

Question: What's up with (Belo8 anchor) Gloria Campos making those hideous laughing noises during Dale Hansen's sportscast? When I was in journalism school, that was strictly unprofessional.Al Taylor

Answer: She's not the only one. Cracking up off-camera is starting to reach the epidemic stage on local TV newscasts. Consultants and news directors apparently think it's another way to project a "real people" feel into living rooms. Campos clearly is the biggest horse-laugher in D-FW television. NBC5 anchors Mike Snyder and Jane McGarry are starting to pick up a little speed, though, during sports anchor Newy Scruggs' mini-segments.

Question: How are the ratings on Grease: You're the One That I Want? It seems to be a cheesy reality copycat! Our favorite from the beginning was Men In Trees, and it seems to be gaining in popularity. True or false?Sharon Lowery

Answer:Grease will finish its run, but the American Idol wanna be continues to have a tough go on Sunday nights against heavy-duty competition from the likes of NFL playoff games, the two-hour launch of 24 and the Super Bowl. On this Sunday (Feb. 11), it will have to go against the Grammy Awards on CBS. So there's no relief in sight.

ABC's Men In Trees is doing better on Thursdays than it did on Fridays. But what show wouldn't in a time slot following mega-hit Grey's Anatomy? Still, the audience falloff is putting Trees out on a limb. The most recent episode retained less than half the audience provided by Grey's. So it could be timbe-r-r-r for Trees by season's end.

Question: With Belo8 now going to HD for its newscasts, how long until the rest of the stations make the jump?Andy Waters

Answer: Station officials at Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11 all say they'll be making the switch, but none will talk specifics yet. Best guess is that it definitely will happen by next fall and possibly in time for the May ratings "sweeps" period.

Question: What's the plan for Studio 60? I hear it's being put on hiatus. Does that translate "canceled?"Kristine Hughes

Answer:Studio 60 will give way on Monday, March 5 to the new crime drama series The Black Donnellys, produced by Oscar-winning Crash director Paul Haggis. Black Donnellys originally was supposed to give ER a rest in January, but the medical drama's ratings remained too good for NBC to take it off the air.

I've seen the pilot of Black Donnellys and don't think it'll do all that much better than Studio 60. Even so, the latter looks like a real long shot for renewal next fall. NBC has shown immense patience, but Studio 60 is a very expensive show that's having a tough time even beating ABC's competing What About Brian?

So in the end, I think there's a better chance that NBC will bring back the deservedly praised Friday Night Lights, which likewise has struggled in the ratings but draws an overall younger audience and is much more affordable.

Question: Can you please tell me the meaning of life?John Carman (former esteemed TV critic of The San Francisco Chronicle

Answer: Glad to be of assistance. The meaning of life is elusive yet attainable. It's best achieved by asserting one's independence in times when corporate-think is crushing spirits, squelching free speech. Watching Deal or No Deal on a regular basis also helps.